This week, I ate the most delicious, below average food I've ever had and...I loved every minute of it!

My dear friend Jose and his wife Arelis from the Dominican Republic came to visit. This is the first time they've ever been to the United States and the first place they wanted to go to eat was...(drum roll please)...Kentucky Fried Chicken!

Yep, you read that right. KFC.

Imagine drinking A&W Rootbeer for the first time in your life! Jose said it was good but it tasted like medicine. Haha.

The food was average...but delicious! We had a wonderful time!! It was so fun to experience the United States and this restaurant with him for the first time!

The next morning, while Kathy and Arelis went shopping, Jose and I went for a hike near my house to a place where we could see the whole valley!

Jose couldn't believe how freezing cold the mountain water was. I told him that this water was snow 5 minutes ago.

That afternoon, a bunch of friends from the Dominican Starfish Foundation who know Jose came over to my house for a pool party. I grilled hamburgers, hot dogs, and brats. Kathy made homemade chocolate chip cookies. It was the first time Jose has ever had a homemade chocolate chip cookie. He couldn't stop eating them! He said it was the best thing he's ever had.

That evening, we went to a fine Japanese restaurant with a Hibachi Chef called Tepanyaki.

To my surprise and disappointment, the Hibachi Chef at this Japanese restaurant was none other than Juan from Mexico and he didn't know any of the Hibachi moves. I spoke to him in Spanish and said "aren't you going to do any of the tricks with the knives?" He responded in Spanish and said "The last time I tried that it didn't turn out too well...I had to go to the hospital."

Despite our disappointment, the food was still yummy and we had a wonderful time!

The next day, Kathy made Roast Burritos for dinner and Jose and Arelis loved them! They were super delicious! For dessert, I gave them a Snickers Ice Cream bar which was a party in Jose's mouth!

The next morning, while Kathy and Arelis went shopping again, I took Jose on a motorcycle ride up in the mountains of Utah. The water in the river that we crossed was deeper than I thought!

Riding motorcycles in the mountains of Utah is awesome! In case you're wondering, holding the steering wheel with your right hand while shooting video on your phone with your left hand as you pass by a cliff is not as easy as I make it look!


When we arrived at our destination, we cooked up some bacon. I told Jose that the bears could smell that bacon cooking for miles and miles. And, I pointed out that, if a bear comes, you don't actually have to outrun the bear to get away safely. Rather, you just have to outrun the person with you! 😁


We scrambled some eggs and ate it with and bread (not toast) with no salt or pepper or anything.


Under ordinary circumstances, a breakfast like this with no salt or pepper and with bread instead of toast would be mediocre at best. But, fresh eggs and bacon in the mountains is AWESOME!

Jose left that afternoon. And, the next day, I went on a 3-day rafting trip in Moab with 55 youth from our church group!

For lunch one day, we ate peanut butter & jelly sandwiches but we ran out of jelly. So, some of us ate peanut butter on bread sandwiches. We had deli sandwiches too but we ran out of mayo and mustard. Not a single person complained.


For dinner one day, we ate spaghetti but we ran out of noodles. So, we poured the spaghetti sauce on a roll and ate it. And, guess what...it was delicious! Not a single person complained.

The point of this whole story is this...it's surprising how delicious below average food can be (like peanut butter on bread) when you are really hungry. It's surprising how yummy ordinary food can be (like KFC) when you are enjoying it with dear friends who are eating it for the first time. It's surprising how yummy plain food can be (like scrambled eggs with bacon and bread) when you are eating it in a spectacular place (like near a river in the mountains).

So, if you're serving a meal that didn't turn out exactly the way that you had hoped...don't worry about it! There's a good chance that everyone will love it anyway!